Stock image. (source: Unsplash/Glenn Carstens-Peters)
A TV show about former Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda set to premiere on the HBO Max streaming service has been dropped by the channel.
Czech director Jan Hřebejk's series Víťaz (Winner) about Dzurinda was in post-production and had been slated for release in the autumn.
Instead, it was cancelled as the American company took a radical decision to stop all local productions in Central Europe, including those which had already finished shooting.
Change of plans
Víťaz was filmed according to a script by Zuzana Dzurindová, the daughter of the former prime minister. The programme was not exclusively about politics, but focused on how her father tried to return to normal family life after his retirement from politics.
The main role was played by Ady Hajdu.
Dzurindová and her colleague Peter Nagy were not the only Slovak creators who cooperated with HBO and it had been predicted that HBO would expand its operations to include other Slovak series.
Until recently, HBO had considered the use of high-quality original work from local producers as essential to attracting Czechs and Slovaks, who until then had not been used to paying for streaming services.
Currently, approximately 50,000 Slovaks subscribe to HBO Max (out of a total of just under 80 million), while Netflix has approximately 200,000 Slovak subscribers (out of 220 million in total).
The series might get a new home
Meanwhile, HBO's owner, the Warner Bros. studios, is in the process of merging with Discovery. According to Variety, part of its planned strategy for Europe is to save approximately $3 billion.
Pavla Brožková, HBO representative in Prague, said the streaming service will save not only on production, but also on the release of new works.
"Unfortunately, HBO will not stream the series Víťaz, but will offer it to other TV stations. There will probably be a lot of interest in it," Brožková said.
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